Ms. Justice:
Sitting alone on the rooftop, my knees pressed against my chest, I hold them tight as I think about Johnny.
"Johnny. I haven't seen him since...since...since before I became Ms. Justice. Before...I met the others. Before I...lost everyone I cared about."
Thinking about Johnny, I also think about my old life; when I was in high school, when all I had to care about was getting the best grades, when I had parents who loved me.
I feel myself about to explode with something, but whatever it is, it stays bottled up. Instead, all I do is wipe a tear and sniffle. As more tears flow down, I wipe all of them. While trying not to cry, I remember something my parents once told me.
"Hey," I say to no one in particular. "Today, I cooked breakfast with SpeedBlade."
I stop for a moment to wipe a tear and swallow a lump in my throat.
"We made pancakes, but SpeedBlade's were burnt. I still ate them though, because I didn't want SpeedBlade to feel bad."
I sniffle and go on.
"Afterward, I helped JumpStart with another one of his crazy gadgets. You know, for an elf who has never seen machines or technology before, he's a very fast learner. I think he might be building something like a car. An actual car. I can't believe it."
Stopping to catch my breath, my thoughts then move onto QuickShot.
"QuickShot and I. We're...I guess we're okay. It just feels like, when we're not fighting together, she's keeping her distance. Maybe I'm just overthinking it. I don't know why."
A cold breeze hits me. Sighing and shivering, I stop hugging my legs and rub my hands together. Looking around, I remember that I'm all alone. Wiping my eyes for the final time, I get up and head for the stairwell. Walking from the roof to the bottom floor, I exit through the back door and into the crowded street.
Pulling my hood up as I walk through all the people chatting and having fun times, I keep my head down and my hands in my pockets. All I do is keep walking and walking, not even sure where exactly I'm going. However, as I feel a drop, I start hearing a loud horn.
"What the--" I think. Hearing the same sound over and over, and see bright lights, I turn and see a large truck coming toward me.
The driver is honking his horn. He stomps on the brakes, but the truck is still coming toward me, the tires burning as they skid against the street. I think about jumping out of the way, but I can't move for some reason. My whole body goes stiff. My legs turn into stone. All I can do is watch as the truck gets closer. Closing my eyes, I brace myself.
"Get out of the way," someone shouts.
Opening my eyes, I turn again and see someone in a green hoodie pushing his way through the paralyzed crowd. Shoving people to the sidewalk, he reaches the end of the sidewalk and jumps. Tackling me, kicking me out of the way of the truck, he takes my place. I watch in mid-fall as the delivery truck hits him instead.
"Nooo!"
QuickShot:
"Anything?" I ask, pacing back and forth. I only stop to grab JumpStart's shoulders and lean closer toward the OutPost's computer. "Did you find Ms. Justice? Did you? Did you! Do you know where she is?"
"No," JumpStart answers, pushing me back. "I haven't found her yet."
"Well, why not?"
"Because...well, I don't know."
"What!"
"QuickShot. Ms. Justice doesn't have her communicator. I can't track her without it, and I just checked. I don't see any smoke signal anywhere in the city."
"Smoke signal?"
"Do people here not use smoke signals?"
"No, not really. Not since medieval times."
"Med...evil times?"
"Medieval times. You know, the era of knights, kings, princesses?"
"Sounds like my and SpeedBlade's home. Did your med...evil times also have elves?"
"Uhh...I'm going to try calling SpeedBlade again. Maybe he found her."
I quickly step back and reach into my pocket. Pulling out the communicator, I slide the cover over and push the button.
"SpeedBlade," I start. "This is QuickShot. SpeedBlade. Can you hear me?"
Instead of getting an answer, the first thing I hear is screaming.
"Ahhh," he yells.
"Who are you?" An unfamiliar voice, one I don't recognize, screams this.
"Put down your weapons, both of you," a third voice shouts. This voice, I do recognize.
"SharpShot?"
"SpeedBlade! SpeedBlade! SpeedBlade?"
No matter how many times I call his name, SpeedBlade doesn't answer. Or he can't.
"Jumptart," I say, pocketing my communicator. "Grab your batons. SpeedBlade needs our help."
"I heard," JumpStart answers, "But wait. What about Ms. Justice?"
I sigh and lower my head.
"We have to stop searching for her. At least for now. I'll meet you by the door."
Nodding, JumpStart and I leave, going to our rooms to grab our gear.
Wolfgang Sturm:
"Ahh....," I moan, holding my head. Shaking it and then cracking my neck, I push myself up and back onto my feet. However, as soon as I'm standing, someone grabs my shoulder.
"Hey," I shout. "What is wrong with--"
I turn around, but before I could finish, I see a little girl in a baggy, grey hoodie. She's patting me down, her hands jumping all over me.
"Hey, hey," I shout, pushing the girl back. "I like my space."
The girl still looks at me, even while stumbling back. Beside her, everyone else is also looking at me. The driver himself, a fat guy with a black-and-white cap, climbs out and runs up to me.
"Are you okay?" The fat man asks. He tries to approach me, but I shoot my hand out and stop him.
"Stay back," I say. "Ahh..."
Despite the six-foot distance, I can still smell the stale French fries.
"Back up," I yell, swinging my hand higher into the air. The fat truck driver jumps and backs away. Looking around again, a crowd of people slowly gathers around the three of us. Not wanting to be the center of attention, I push my way through the people and out of sight.
"Hey, wait," the girl yells.
I move fast, running around a corner and disappearing into a narrow alleyway. Jumping onto a metal trash can, I leap and grab a fire escape. As I pull myself up and over the railing, my feet hitting the metal floor, I hear a voice.
"Stop," the girl says. For some reason, I did stop. I turn and look down to see the girl chasing me.
"I just want to know if you're okay!"
"I'm fine," I yell back. "Now leave me alone. Oh, and also, look both ways the next time you cross the street. Dumb kid."
"You can't be fine. You were just hit by a truck!"
I roll my eyes and raise one of my arms. Pulling down my green sleeves, I show the annoying girl my arm.
We may be over 20 feet apart, but I can still see the girl's eyes. They're wide with horror.
A deep red cut runs down my grey and wrinkled skin, but already, it's healing itself. The two sides are literally pulling themselves closer, closing my wound. In only two minutes, the cut I got from saving the annoying girl and skidding against the cold street is gone.
"Again," I growl, "I am fine. Now leave me alone."
The girl opens her mouth to say something, but before she can, we hear a loud explosion, and then people screaming. Turning, I see smoke rising into the air nearby.
"Oh no," the girl says. She turns and leaves me, running out of the alleyway and turning, disappearing from view. Seeing her disappear, I grab the side of the rusted ladder. I try to climb it. My foot lands on the first step, but my other foot won't move. I grind my teeth.
"Just go," I tell myself. "That girl is not your problem. She is not your problem. You already saved her once. You do not need to do it again. Just go. Just...Ahhhh..."
I stop grinding my teeth and sigh.
"I hate myself."
Turning away from the ladder, I jump off the fire escape and follow the stupid girl. Running to the corner where she disappeared, I begin sniffing the air.
"Her scent is strong. Weird. That girl smells...sad?"
Chasing after the girl with ease, I turn onto another street, and the first thing I see is dozens of people screaming and running.
"Move," I shout, pushing my way through the crowd. Shoving some people aside, I finally see the girl not too far ahead. Only, she's not alone.
"What in the world?" I ask, seeing a giant steel robot. The robot, white and with a fat, rounded body, picks up a whole car and slams it down. It almost crushes the girl, but she manages to jump out of the way in time.
"Are you crazy! What are you doing!"
The girl ignores me. She keeps jumping and flipping out of the way as the robot grabs more cars and trash cans and throws them. When it runs out, the robot slams its massive arms down, shaking the whole street.
"What are you doing! Run, you moron! Run!"
It's not until I see the girl running toward a downed man in a blue uniform that I realize what she is doing.
"Officer," the girl yells, dropping to her knees. "Are you okay?"
The officer moans as he slowly pushes himself up. The girl grabs one of his arms and throws it over herself. She carries him up and walks him away from the robot, but the two of them are too slow. The robot catches up to them in no time.
"Leave me," the officer yells. "Run..."
"No," the girl yells. The robot lifts its massive arms. About to crush the stupid girl and the officer, I shoot out both my hands.
Bolts of green lightning fly out and hit the robot, causing it to shake, spark, and smoke. Lowering my hands, the robot regains enough of its bearing to turn around and face me. Staring right back at me, I yell as loud as my voice can go.
"Hey! You oversized piece of junk! You want a fight? Well, get your shiny butt over here."
I lean to the side and look at the girl as she looks at me.
Despite the distance, I can still hear her.
"Thank you," she says.
"Save the loser," I shout, "I'll deal with the giant walking trash can."
Nodding, the girl helps the limping officer away. While the pair escape, limping into a store, I look back at the giant piece of scrap metal. Its eyes turn red, but I don't care. I raise both my hands again. Breathing in and out, focusing, I watch as sharp, metal claws pull themselves from my fingertips.